LucasArts president Jim Ward resigns abruptly

Jim Ward, president of one of the greatest games publisher (and developer, in some cases) announced his departure, citing personal reasons as the cause. He will be quitting in a couple of weeks – quitting the company he had been working for 10 years (with only 4 as president).

He talked more about how great LucasArts is, and what we should expect from it now. Hit the jump for more and such.

Ward announced his decision to the rest of LucasArts on Monday, simply saying that he is leaving for personal reasons and nothing more on that. We have a hunch that some top-secret government body is going to use his genius for nefarious purposes. Keep an eye on him, folks.

When talking about the company, he says:

“I am so proud of all people and the work we’ve done together at LucasArts over the last four years. It’s been an incredible experience. Together we’ve rebooted the company and set LucasArts on a path to even greater success. This is a fantastic team and they are positioned for their best year ever.”

The search is on for a new President, and Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, who has been with the company for 25 years will be stepping in during the interim.

Ye selfish gamers, fear not: No games will be affected by Ward’s departure. However, Ward was supposed to give a presentation at D.I.C.E., which has now been scrapped, since he will not be attending it.

Margaret Grohne, LucasArts’ PR Director says that LucasArts has a really strong line-up for 2008 and that Ward left LucasArts with a strong team and a good place. We hope this is more than corporate sweet-talk, because a LucasArts comeback is all we need to give EA and Activision some serious competition.